MMA News

Tag: Mark Shapiro

  • UFC Owners Buy Into $9.9 Billion Las Vegas Raiders With Minority Ownership

    The influence of combat sports is stretching further into mainstream American sports, with key figures behind the UFC now securing a foothold in the NFL.

    TKO Group Holdings executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro have officially been approved as minority investors in the Las Vegas Raiders, marking a notable crossover between the UFC’s parent company and one of the NFL’s most valuable franchises.

    Emanuel, who serves as CEO of TKO, has acquired a 1.4% stake in the team, while Shapiro, the company’s president and COO, has taken a 0.6% share. Their entry comes as part of a broader ownership reshuffle that has significantly boosted the Raiders’ valuation to around $9.9 billion.

    Despite the influx of new investors, controlling owner Mark Davis retains authority over the franchise, holding roughly a third of the team, which is the minimum required by league rules for a primary owner.

    One of the biggest shifts within the ownership structure involves Silver Lake executive Egon Durban, who has increased his stake to 22%, making him a central figure in the team’s long-term future. Durban is already deeply connected to TKO and Endeavor, serving as a major investor and board member, and is widely viewed as the leading candidate to take control of the Raiders should Davis ever decide to sell.

    The move also reflects a broader strategy tying TKO closer to Las Vegas. The city has long served as the home base for the UFC, while recent large-scale events, including WWE’s WrestleMania and major boxing cards, have further strengthened the company’s footprint in the market.

  • TKO President Says UFC Has “Never Been Stronger” Despite Fans Complaining About Recent Fight Cards Quality

    TKO President Says UFC Has “Never Been Stronger” Despite Fans Complaining About Recent Fight Cards Quality

    Mark Shapiro is dismissing growing criticism surrounding the UFC’s recent run of events, insisting the promotion remains stronger than ever despite increasing complaints from fans about card quality.

    Over the past several months, frustration has steadily built online regarding UFC matchmaking, particularly with smaller Fight Night cards and the growing number of relatively unknown fighters appearing on major events. The criticism has only intensified since the UFC began its new broadcast era with Paramount earlier this year.

    Still, Shapiro made it clear during a recent TKO financial call that the company does not believe the product has declined.

    “Look, bottom line is we don’t buy it,” Shapiro said. “Let’s just start with this premise. The product is great at the UFC, the brand has never been stronger, our reach has never been greater, so the foundational elements of UFC are in concrete.”

    TKO Believes UFC Is Simply Entering New Era Of Stars

    Shapiro pointed to recent events like UFC 327 and the UFC’s Perth card as examples of why the company remains confident in the direction of the promotion.

    “Anyone that came to our last numbered fight in Miami, which was UFC 327, was flat-out blown away,” Shapiro said. “Or anyone that went to our last Fight Night, which happened to be last week in Perth, Australia.”

    Rather than seeing the current roster transition as a weakness, Shapiro argued that the UFC is in the middle of building its next generation of stars.

    “We are always building in the UFC,” he said. “We find the best up-and-coming talent around the world and we match them continually in the best fights.”

    Shapiro specifically highlighted rising names such as Joshua Van, Carlos Prates, and Michael Morales as examples of the promotion’s future direction.

    “There’s a huge movement right now with all these young fighters coming up in the ranks,” Shapiro said. “Many of them are taking over slots in the top 10 from guys that have been names in the rankings for years.”

    He also referenced the UFC’s upcoming White House event, UFC Freedom 250, which is expected to be one of the biggest cards of the year and will feature lightweight champion Ilia Topuria in the main event.

    “It’s all very cyclical,” Shapiro added while addressing the criticism. “With any sport, there’s natural ebbs and flows.”

  • TKO’s Mark Shapiro Pushes Back on UFC Card Quality Criticism

    TKO’s Mark Shapiro Pushes Back on UFC Card Quality Criticism

    TKO Group Holdings President and COO Mark Shapiro has firmly pushed back against the growing narrative that the UFC’s card quality has declined, arguing that the criticism misunderstands how professional sports actually work and ignores the genuine strength of the current product.

    Speaking on a TKO financial call on Wednesday, Shapiro rejected the premise that there is a problem to solve in the first place.

    “Bottom line is we don’t buy it. Let’s just start with this premise: The product is great at the UFC. The brand has never been stronger. Our reach has never been greater. So the foundational elements of UFC are in concrete. Anyone that came to our last numbered fight in Miami, which was UFC 327, was flat-out blown away. Or anyone that went to our last Fight Night, which happened to be last week in Perth, Australia. A sellout or even watched it, witnessed an extraordinary sport. We are always building in the UFC. We’re in the building phase at all times. We find the best up-and-coming talent around the world and we match them continually in the best fights.”

    He pointed to a wave of emerging talent as evidence that the promotional pipeline is healthy and producing the kind of stars that sustain long-term growth.

    “There’s a huge movement right now with all these young fighters coming up in the ranks. Many of them are taking over slots in the top 10 from guys that have been names in the rankings for years. Strong personalities that are busting right now. Joshua Van, Brazilian Carlos Prates, undefeated Michael Morales, the next generation. Or look at the White House card, which we put out there is a strong card, we’ve actually added a fight to it. UFC Freedom 250, which is stacked top to bottom and we’re using that opportunity to feature one of our most promising stars in Ilia Topuria.”

    Shapiro expressed full confidence in Dana White and his matchmaking team, describing the process of finding and building stars as one the UFC does better than anyone in sport.

    “Dana White and his team have been doing this for 25 years. Look, the real truth of it is, we don’t get to determine who wins. It doesn’t work like that. You take these great personalities, who hail from every corner of the world, with exciting fighting styles and if they win, you’ve caught lightning in a bottle. That’s what we do. That’s what Dana White does. There’s no better matchmakers in any sport than we have with Dana’s team of Hunter Campbell, Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard.”

    On the broader question of whether the UFC is missing the kind of transcendent stars it had during the Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey era, Shapiro drew a comparison to the NBA’s experience after Michael Jordan retired and framed the current moment as a natural phase that every major sport moves through.

    “I would remind you finally with any sport, there’s just natural ebbs and flows. It’s all very cyclical. Again kind of harking back to the ESPN days, the NBA was on fire with Michael Jordan and then he left and there was a bit of a dip. Then all of a sudden it was Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and as long as Shaq and Kobe were in the NBA Finals, the NBA was in good shape. But the year they weren’t there or they were playing the Nets or the San Antonio Spurs were there, there was a falloff. They needed more stars and everybody talked about it and yearned and cried and commented. There was no social back then but there was still a lot of noise. Now, they’re uber rich when it comes to sports personalities and teams that are playing well, as evidenced by the homegrown New York Knicks here.”

  • TKO’s Ari Emanuel & Mark Shapiro: CBS To Likely Air All Numbered UFC Cards

    TKO’s Ari Emanuel & Mark Shapiro: CBS To Likely Air All Numbered UFC Cards

    The new UFC U.S. broadcasting rights deal may have just gotten bigger mere hours after it was first announced.

    As part of the new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, which also brings about the end of the pay-per-view model for UFC events, it was announced that certain UFC numbered cards, which historically almost-exclusively aired on pay-per-view, would be simulcasted on CBS.

    In a new interview with CNBC, however, TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro have appeared to one-up that. They stated that the plan is actually to air all of the numbered UFC cards on the network platform.

    Shapiro emphasized a desire, despite the deal being primarily for the Paramount+ streaming service, to have CBS as part of the new UFC deal. Shapiro cited CBS’ history of sports broadcasting, from the Masters, to the NFL, to the NCAA Final Four.

    “It was important to us to have CBS play a big component in this,” Shapiro said. “This is Paramount+ exclusively, but CBS will have simulcast on many of the fights, and likely all of the numbered events, which are formerly the pay-per-view fights.”

    TKO’s Ari Emanuel & Mark Shapiro Claims CBS Will Air All UFC Numbered Cards In U.S.

    The pair were then asked about the decision to do this when Paramount+ has 77 million subscribers, and almost all of them are located within the U.S.

    Emanuel responded by saying that while part of the purpose is to drive traffic to Paramount+ and gain the platform subscribers — citing Paramount’s deal with the television program South Park last month as an example — there is also the aspect of the reach that CBS can provide. This would be, as pointed out, similar to how the NFL has never left broadcast networks completely.

    “A unified platform, more personalization, more customization, integrating sports betting, which is a big part of our fan experience when it comes to the UFC, that was all the stuff that was very attractive to us, way beyond the price,” Shapiro said.

    “But you need CBS, as Ari said, to really drive that reach. Think about it. [CEO David Ellison’s] goal is to get more subs; take that 77 million up to 300. But to keep them there, and the fact that we’re year round, the fact that every month we have a big premium fight, that will be an antidote.”

    Emanuel, in fact, claimed that TKO and the UFC tried to get more events on ABC — which almost exclusively were put on during the summer and for events that took place in the Middle East (with exceptions).

    “When we were at ESPN and Disney, we always actually were asking for a little bit of ABC, because we want the broadest reach,” Emanuel said.

    Shapiro followed it up by praising the visions of Ellison, who was Skydance CEO before the company merged with Paramount and became the CEO of the merged organization.

    “His strategy: streaming, sports, and studios,” Shapiro said. “It’s right in our wheel house. He sees media…he sees content, he sees storytelling through the prism and lens of technology.”

    What will be interesting to see is how CBS handles its sports broadcasting rights alongside the UFC, if the plan for CBS to air all of the numbered pay-per-view cards comes true. CBS currently has college football rights to air matchups in the Big Ten (since 2023) and the newly-reformed Pac-12 (starting this year). College football on ESPN was a main reason why the UFC’s Fight Night events in the fall were exclusively on ESPN+, as well as accounted for differing channel airings for prelims on pay-per-view fight cards.

    No information has also come out on what will happen for a UFC numbered cards that takes place outside the U.S. UFC pay-per-views that have been held in Australia and England have traditionally aired in the UFC’s typical 10 p.m. ET start time; however, pay-per-view cards in Abu Dhabi, which have annually taken place in the fall since 2019, have had special 2 p.m. ET start times.

    The UFC’s deal with Paramount will be for 43 events total per year — 13 numbered events (the former pay-per-views) and 30 Fight Nights.

  • UFC Exec Provides Response To Calls For Second Sphere Show: ‘Dana Is Pretty Intent…’ 

    UFC Exec Provides Response To Calls For Second Sphere Show: ‘Dana Is Pretty Intent…’ 

    UFC 306 had a lot to live up to after the hype that Dana White and the UFC had created around the event. There was criticism of the card on paper but all of that changed once the event got underway.

    The MMA leader’s use of the ground-breaking Las Vegas Sphere made for an incredible spectacle that we’ve never seen before and seemingly, won’t again for some time. White was very clear that their decision to run the Sphere was because the T-Mobile Arena was already booked for the night that they wanted to do the second annual Noche UFC.

    Since the event took place, both fans and fighters have called for the promotion to do it again but there hasn’t been any movement on this since. Endeavour President Mark Shapiro recently spoke about this in a recent statement, making it clear once again that White wants to double down on it being a one of a kind show.

    “We do not intend to do another event at the Sphere. That was a one and done, I think we’ve signalled that to the market. Of course, anything can change like rock bands do their farewell tours and seem to stick around for another 20 years but Dana is pretty intent that this is a one and done, that’s why we spent so much, that’s why we made so much out of it.”

    Shapiro added that though the Vegas Sphere has already been ticked off the bucket list, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t do another event like this in a different location much further down the line.

    “By the way, last time I checked, the Sphere is launching in Abu Dhabi. Dana did say no more events at the Sphere in Vegas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go to Abu Dhabi. So, I’m looking forward to pursuing that when that gets built, probably two decades from now.”